Swisscom voice control with ruwido

April 20, 2016

ruwido builds upon strong partnership with Swisscom and unveils the next generation of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) remote control – the new Swisscom TV 2.0 remote – with integrated voice transmission at TV Connect.

Back in 2014, ruwido and Swisscom introduced Europe’s first BLE remote control – the bidirectional Swisscom 2.0 remote control. Swisscom has since selected ruwido to further evolve the design of the remote control for release with its new Swisscom TV 2.0 UHD set-top box, extending the companies’ long-term business partnership which has existed since 2005.

The new Swisscom TV 2.0 remote control is based on the first version, a Red Dot Design Award winner. Now it is lighter, slimmer and handier than ever. The updated control features round keys making it even easier and more efficient to operate. The patented ruwido line design allows for smoother transition between two housing parts for a sleeker appearance and consistent branding.

A key feature of the new design is the integrated speech transmission in HiFi quality. Consumers can easily access known content by simply saying the title, or name of an actor. Swisscom takes also the specific situation of the different dialects within the country into account. So the voice activated search functions currently support German, all Swiss German dialects and French.

“We are incredibly pleased to be continuing our partnership with Swisscom since our efforts to pioneer what was Europe’s first BLE remote control,” said Ferdinand Maier, CEO, ruwido. “By combining high quality button based input with the advantages of voice, we stay committed to our goal of achieving user experience excellence within the TV landscape”.

Peter Fregelius, Head of TV- and Entertainment- Technology, Swisscom said: “Following the exceptional feedback of our first BLE device, it was a natural next step to work again with ruwido to design the remote control to accompany the new release of our UHD set-top-box. The design has been geared around the consumer to make content even easier to find, watch and enjoy”.